Volume sets the overall volume output.
Although Collision has been designed to model the behavior of objects that exist in the physical world, it is important to remember that these models allow for much more flexibility than their physical counterparts. While Collision can produce extremely realistic simulations of conventional mallet instruments such as marimbas, vibraphones and glockenspiels, it is also very easy to “misuse“ the instrument’s parameters to produce sounds which could never be made by an acoustic instrument.
To program realistic instrument simulations, it helps to think about the chain of events that produces a sound on a mallet instrument (a marimba, for example), and then visualize those events as sections within Collision:
Thus the conventional model consists of the Mallet Exciter and the two resonators in a serial (1 > 2) configuration.
Of course, to program unrealistic sounds, anything goes:
A word of caution: in many ways, Collision’s models are idealized versions of real-world objects. Consequently, it is very easy to program resonances that are much more sensitive to input than any physical resonator could be. Certain combinations of parameters can cause dramatic changes in volume. Make sure to keep output levels low when experimenting with new sounds.
Drift is a versatile synthesizer with intuitive controls and a simple interface that is fully MPE-capable. Based on subtractive synthesis, Drift has been carefully built for quick and easy sound design while using minimal CPU resources.
Drift’s interface is divided into six main sections: an oscillator section, a dynamic filter section, an envelopes section, two modulation sections (LFO and Mod), and a section of global controls.
Subtractive synthesis is a technique that generally starts with a waveform that is then shaped using filters to sculpt the original timbres into new forms. In addition to this process, Drift offers many modulation options for tweaking and customizing the sound even more, allowing you to easily create a wide variety of sounds. The signature Drift control lets you add pitch and frequency variation to each voice, resulting in a slightly detuned, fluctuating pulse throughout the tone.
Drift’s Oscillator section features two separate oscillators, pitch modulation controls, a waveform display, an oscillator mixer, and a noise generator.
You can select from several curated waveforms using the Osc 1 drop-down menu: Sine, Triangle, Shark Tooth, Saturated, Saw, Pulse, and Rectangle. The Shark Tooth and Saturated waveforms are unique to Drift; Shark Tooth is based on a classic Moog analog shape with the same name, while Saturated works well for bass sounds.
The Oct knob transposes Oscillator 1 in octaves. You can use the Shape knob to change the harmonic content of the waveform into something slightly different, resulting in an effect similar to pulse-width modulation. As the timbre varies between each waveform, they all respond differently to the Shape control. When you make adjustments to the control, you can view the result in the Waveform Display located at the bottom of the Oscillator section. You’ll notice how the waveform changes as you tweak the Shape value.
To the right of the Shape knob, the Oscillator 1 Shape Mod Source drop-down lets you select a modulation source that will affect the Shape control, allowing you to further morph the waveform:
You can set the amount of modulation anywhere between -100% to 100% using the Oscillator 1 Shape Mod Amount slider. Note that Shape Mod can also introduce modulation to the waveform when set between values of 1% - 100%, even if the Shape control value itself is set to 0%.
Using the Osc 2 drop-down menu, you can select a waveform for the second oscillator: Sine, Triangle, Saturated, Saw, and Rectangle.
The Oct knob transposes Oscillator 2 in octaves, while the Detune control offers transposition in semitones.
The Pitch Mod section contains two modulation source options, which will affect the pitch of both oscillators. You can choose Env 1, Env 2 / Cyc, LFO, Key, Velocity, Modwheel, Pressure, or Slide as a modulation source using the Oscillator Pitch Mod Source drop-down menus. The Oscillator Mod Amount sliders determine how much each source modulates the pitch within a range from -100% to 100%.
When applying pitch modulation using an LFO that uses the Ratio time mode, it is possible to generate FM tones.
The waveform display shows the result of the combined output of Osc 1, Osc 2 and the noise generator, if enabled. As you make adjustments to the oscillators, you will see how the waveform changes in the display.
In Drift’s Oscillator Mixer, you can enable Oscillator 1 and 2, as well as a noise generator that adds white noise to the overall waveform shape, by using the respective switches.
You can also set the gain for each oscillator and the noise generator with the Osc 1, Osc 2, and Noise controls. When filter processing is on, high oscillator gain values can reach the maximum “headroom” of the filters, at which point they stop functioning linearly, resulting in a complex distortion similarly found in analog hardware.
There are two saturation points in the filter circuits that cause this distortion, one before the filter and one after. As the oscillator gain values are increased from the default -6.0 dB, the first saturation point will become activated, and the second will be triggered when gain values are above 0.0 dB.
Enabling the arrow toggles to the right of the gain controls switches on filter processing for the oscillators and noise generator. If filter processing is switched off, the oscillator and noise generator output bypasses the filter completely.
The R toggle switches Retrigger for the oscillators on or off. If Retrigger is on, the phase of both oscillators is reset to the same position each time a note is played; if switched off, the oscillators are free-running.
Filtering plays an important role in shaping the timbres produced by the oscillators.
Drift’s Filter section has a low-pass filter that can be switched between two filter types, filter key tracking, a resonance control, a high-pass filter, and two frequency modulation controls.
The Freq knob sets the cutoff frequency of the low-pass filter. You can use the Type toggle to switch between two distinct low–pass filters: Type I (12 dB/octave) and Type II (24 dB/octave).
Type I uses a DFM-1 filter which feeds back more of its distortion internally, resulting in a broad range of tones from subtle filter sweeps to warm drive.
Type II has the Cytomic MS2 filter which uses a Sallen-Key design and soft clipping to limit resonance.
The Key slider determines how the pitch of incoming MIDI notes influences the low-pass filter’s frequency. If set to 0.00, MIDI notes have no effect on filter frequency. If set to 1.00, the filter frequency will be lower for low notes and higher for high notes.
The Res knob adjusts the resonance of the low-pass filter, while the HP knob sets the cutoff frequency for the high-pass filter.
You can also click anywhere in the Filter section to access and adjust the envelope using the display in the Envelopes section with an X-Y controller. You can drag the left filter dot horizontally to set the high-pass frequency. The right filter dot adjusts the low-pass frequency when dragged horizontally or the resonance amount when dragged vertically.
You can select up to two modulation sources for the low-pass filter cutoff frequency using the Low-pass Modulation Source drop-down menus in the Freq Mod section. The Low-pass Modulation Amount sliders let you determine how much each source modulates the frequency within a range from -100% to 100%.
Envelopes generally determine how the amplitude of the sound changes from the moment a note is played to when it is released.
Drift’s Envelopes section contains two separate envelopes: one which controls how the amplitude changes and another that can be used specifically for modulation.
Envelope 1 determines how the amplitude of the Oscillator section’s output (including both oscillators, as well as the Noise generator if enabled) begins and changes when a note is played and then released.
You can set the Attack, Decay, Sustain, and Release controls using the respective knobs or by adjusting the envelope itself in the display.
Attack sets the time needed to travel from the initial value to the peak value.
Decay sets the time needed to travel from the peak value to the Sustain level.
Sustain sets the level reached at the end of the Decay stage; the envelope will remain at this level until the note ends.
Release sets the time needed to travel back to zero after the note is released.
You can toggle between Envelope 1 and Envelope 2 by clicking the respective section in the UI, or by using the 1 and 2 toggles in the display. The selected envelope will be shown in the display for editing.
Envelope 2 also has Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release controls however, unlike Envelope 1, Envelope 2 is not mapped to amplitude by default, and can be used as a source for all modulation source options within Drift.
Envelope 2 can be changed from an ADSR envelope to a Cycling Envelope by toggling the switch to the left of the Attack control.
The Cycling Envelope functions similarly to an LFO modulation that restarts with each incoming MIDI note.
The Tilt knob moves the midpoint of the envelope, at very low or high amounts this can also affect the envelope’s slopes. The Hold control defines how long the envelope stays at its maximum level.
By default, the Cycling Envelope displays the Rate control, which is one of four possible time modes, also including Ratio, Time, or Sync. You can select the other modes by clicking the switches to the right of the control. Depending on the time mode, the repetition rate can be set in Hz, ratio, milliseconds, or tempo-synced beat divisions.
Like the Cycling Envelope, Drift’s LFO can be set in one of four different time modes: Rate, Ratio, Time, or Sync. The time mode determines the repetition rate of the LFO in Hz, ratio, milliseconds, or tempo-synced beat divisions.
In the LFO display, you can select from nine different waveforms using the drop-down menu:
You can use the R switch to turn Retrigger on or off. If on, the LFO resets to the same position in its phase each time a note is triggered. If off, the LFO is free-running.
The LFO Amount knob sets the overall intensity of the LFO. The LFO Modulation Source drop-down menu lets you select a modulation source for the LFO, while the LFO Modulation Amount slider determines how much that modulation is applied to the LFO.
Most of Drift’s parameters can be modulated; you can select up to three modulation sources and destinations in the Mod section.
You can choose from the following sources using the Modulation Source choosers: Env 1, Env 2 / Cyc, LFO, Key, Velocity, Modwheel, Pressure, or Slide.
The following destinations are available in the Modulation Destination choosers: Osc 1 Gain, Osc 1 Shape, Osc 2 Gain, Osc 2 Detune, Noise Gain, LP Frequency, LP Resonance, HP Frequency, LFO Rate, Cyc Env Rate, and Main Volume.
You can use the Modulation Amount sliders to set how much the modulation destination is affected by the modulation source within a range of -100% to 100%.